Pilgrim’s Progress

He is also a very keen angler, having come back to the sport in 1995 following a break of several years. In this regular column he will tell us about his progress as an angler – his thoughts about the sport, what he learns, the fishing trips he makes, the anguish, the humour, in fact everything he experiences as his angling career develops.

Pilgrim’s Progress – read it everyThursday!

Leaves on the canal, but no snow on the Sow

I’ve written in recent Pilgrim’s Progress articles about my current chub campaign, which is focused on the Mease and the Sow, and my pike campaign, for which I’ve chosen the lower Severn as the target water. Not forgetting the trips for grayling when the weather gets really cold. However, there is a further string to my bow this winter. I’m also fishing for perch and roach, with the Staffs/Worcs canal the venue I have decided to head for.

Certainly, with the chub, pike and grayling campaigns being conducted on rivers, it makes sense to have a back-up venue. You don’t need to be Mystic Meg to confidently predict that there will be times over the winter months when the rivers will not be in a very good condition.

Lady in Waiting – for a pet maggot

I have chosen a particular stretch of the canal to fish, one that is in Staffordshire. It was the last week of November when I kicked off my winter perch and roach fishing with a visit to my chosen venue. For the first time in ages I bought some maggots. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I fished with them. Getting home from the tackle shop I was greeted by my youngest daughter Miriam, pleading with me, ‘Dad, can I have a maggot please as a pet’.

I gave her the tub and she promptly chose one that like all the others she has ever adopted, was given the name Tommy. Although she’s only 8 years old, Miriam is a fine young woman in training, because even though a maggot is a maggot, it still took minutes of indecision before she finally selected the one she wanted. And then she put it back to ‘umm and agh’ over which one she would choose next, as she didn’t want that one after all.

Fast forward her life a few years and the same feminine qualities will have her husband in a state of sheer boredom as he waits outside Selfridge’s changing room on a Saturday afternoon, wishing he could be somewhere else more exciting. Like fishing. Talking of which, how did my first session go?

Late Autumn

We all know about leaves on the line causing trains to be delayed. But what about leaves on the canal affecting the fishing? I arrived to find the surface of the water absolutely covered with fallen leaves. Although it can be a problem at this time of the year, it was certainly made worse, I feel, by the mildest October in living memory.

The trees delayed shedding their leaves, and it had only been the recent drop in temperature that had reminded them to undress for the winter. With each tree, and the stretch I have decided to fish has an abundance of them along the banks, in shedding overdrive, a carpet of leaves covered the canal.

My general intention while fishing the canal is to target perch in the mornings and roach in the evenings. On this occasion, as I arrived late and intended to fish into dark, I knew that once the light dimmed then fishing would be virtually impossible. While it was still light I could still drop the float into a small gap that would form in the leaves from time to time as the wind moved them across the water’s surface. But once darkness fell it would be a waste of time. This proved to be the case, so the session was indeed a very short one.

I did catch a perch of about 6 oz first cast followed some time after by a small bream. With still some daylight remaining, slight trembles on the float coupled with sucked maggots indicated that roach had moved into the swim. Great, I thought to myself, I can have almost an hour catching roach. After a couple of bites though, the swim was well and truly killed off by three boats that passed through.

And rather than disperse the leaves, as the boats passed, the suction left behind them actually drew more in. My swim now resembled a forest floor. Knowing when I’m beaten I retired gracefully and made it home in time for Heartbeat, where funnily enough, PC Ventress was taking some leave to go fishing.

I decided to delay a return visit to the canal until some time in December, when hopefully by then the leaves would have cleared. Of course, the truth is they’d all be on the bottom of the water rather than the surface, but I can live with that. As long as I can get a bait into the water I’ll be able to present it according to the circumstances.

True to my word, a return visit in December did materialise. However, prior to my fishing trip, I decided to check out the venue first, just to make sure it was fishable. So, one morning, I asked my wife, Debby, if she fancied a ride out into the countryside. Her initial enthusiasm then prompted a question. “Where are you taking me?” she asked with a certain suspicion in her voice. “To have a look at the canal,” I replied, realising honesty was the best policy. (I’m not a very good liar anyway). “Oh, go on,” she said. So off we went. Although there were still leaves around, the situation wasn’t half as bad.

Net sized bream

A couple of days later I was back on the canal, this time ready to do business with the perch and roach. Although it was very cold, I was confident. As with my previous visit I mixed up a bucket of brown crumb, laced with dead maggots and other goodies to tempt the fish. My first few fish were all landing net sized bream. Then a few roach and perch followed. As the sun set, fish activity increased, even though by now it was extremely cold.

Thinking I had connected with decent roach, three strikes on the trot all produced fair sized bream. As I played each fish my mind was filled with visions of a 2 or 3 lb roach. But it wasn’t to be, as on each occasion bream were the culprits. Going back home covered in bream slime just didn’t seem right in the run up to Christmas, with temperatures rock bottom. But that’s fishing.

Still, I had kicked off my canal campaign, and it was nice to know the venue was now fishable after the encounter with the leaves on my previous visit. As mentioned in a previous Pilgrim’s Progress, any perch or roach over 1 lb will be decent fish. As my second visit came to an end, my best fish were a roach of 0-9-8 and a perch of 0-8-0. Well at least there’s room for improvement. Anyway, leaving the canal behind for now, how have I been doing on the River Sow?

No snow on the Sow

As if the pre-Christmas period wasn’t busy enough, the sales that start even before you’ve digested your last mince pie are out of this world. And that’s exactly where I headed. Well, not quite out of the world, but away from it, if you get my drift.

Waking up on the last Saturday of the old year, upon opening the curtains I was greeted with the sort of scene that would grace any half decent Christmas card. Snow was falling, and I love fishing in the snow. OK, it is usually hard going, due to the drop in water temperature, but the achievement of a fish holding photograph with a white backdrop is worth it.

So, when Mrs Sedge and the Sedgelets wanted to hit Wolverhampton, I gave them money to go, and even dropped them off…on my way to the River Sow near Stafford. However, as I avoided the cars full of ‘shop till you drop’ people heading into the city (Wolverhampton is no longer just an ordinary run of the mill town now, you know) and made my way in the opposite direction north on the A449, I was greeted with dry, grey roads. You’ve guessed it, no snow.

Still, it’s hardly a disappointment, I thought to myself. At least I’m going fishiing rather than shopping. I tackled a stretch of the river that I had fished a couple of times before, for chub. On each occasion I had bites, but failed to land a fish. My perseverance paid off though, as I caught a chub that weighed in at 3 lb 13 oz. I was sure it was a ‘4’, but the scales never lie. This is why, if we’re making claims about what we catch, accurate weighing is important.

I also had a bream of about 4 lb that shed the hook as I was about to net it. I ended up grateful for the chub, though, because in spite of a number of bites, it was the only fish that I landed. It was a very cold day, and as the sun dipped over the horizon, frost set in. Although I’m sure I would have caught more if it hadn’t been for the canoeists that periodically passed through.

On a small, shallow stretch such as I was on it didn’t exactly do wonders for the fishing. What’s the matter with these people, shouldn’t they be out in the sales or something? Who in their right mind wants to spend Saturday afternoon on a river in freezing conditions? OK, I think I’d better stop now, before I incriminate myself.

Tramping my way across the field to the car, I began to empathise with the scientists who live and work in Antarctica. Still, it beats hitting the shops any day, doesn’t it? And just as I got into the car, it started to snow…..

Next Thursday I’ll be back with‘Pike from the Sow, A slow start to the New Year, And more chubfrom the Mease’. Until then, tight lines.

The Reverend Stewart R Bloor
Sedgley International Christian Ministries
PO Box 1216, Dudley. DY3 1GW.
Telephone : 01384 – 828033
Web site : www.sicm.org
e-mail : missionscentre@sicm.org